• 9point6@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I guess the problem is that “Android TV” is a specific thing that none of these devices actually are, they’re just dodgy boxes running Android that can be plugged into a TV.

    For me it’s more clickbaity because Android TV isn’t actually involved here at all.

    • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’d say it would be more clickbaity if you just removed the “TV”, because it’d make you think of smartphones, and those would be much more concerning

      • 9point6@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Yeah I’m not sure what the correct headline is, but at least for me I definitely clicked because I thought it was to do with Android TV, which it wasn’t. It was about those cheap boxes that anyone reading Ars already knows are probably filled with malware

    • planish
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Aren’t the boxes running “Android TV”, the set top box oriented flavor of Android, with e.g. the launcher designed to be operated with a TV remote and not a touch screen?

      They are not themselves TVs, though, and I guess nowdays it might be most common for “Android TV” to run on the TV instead of on a separate device.

      • Zanz@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Those boxes are in a skin for normal Android to make it work with the TV. The only device you likely come in contact with with Android TV is the new Chromecast or a Sony TV. Other than the Nvidia shield and the Chromecast most actual Android TV devices still come with malware from the manufacturer. Even the Sony TVs, but basically every Smart TV comes with malware to spy on what you’re doing too.

        I think the new dish network’s at top box also runs Android TV, maybe you found one of those wild.

      • 9point6@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s the problem, they’re not running Android TV at all. Just regular phone Android with some third party launcher.

        • planish
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Are you sure? One can definitely build images of the actual “Android TV” for various SBCs and the sorts of SOCs in these TV boxes, and then load them up with malware. Why wouldn’t they use that?

          • 9point6@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            Honestly, I’m not entirely sure why, but for whatever reason these boxes are always running a pretty old version of regular Android. (Edit: in fact googling a couple of the devices in the article seems to confirm that)

            Maybe there are more protections preventing this kind of malware on newer versions? Maybe someone just made the images a long time ago and people are just reusing them